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Tag Archives: Risky Business

Back in February 2012 I blogged about Tom Cruise’s 1979 Porsche 928 that fetched at the sum of $49,000. AllePorsche.com had reported that a 1979 Porsche 928 used during the filming of “Risky Business” was put up for sale by the Volo Auto Museum, located about an hour north of Chicago where the movie was set. In order to make room for a couple of new additions to its collection.The platinum metallic colored coupe was one of four 928s used during principal production of the film, according to museum director Brian Grams.

Its odometer reads 102,755 miles and it is in driving condition. It is expected to fetch $40,000 to $60,000.

The sleek Porsche 928 was the German company’s flagship model in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But today it is largely forgotten by all but two kinds of people: fans of front-engine GT cars and anyone who saw the 1983 coming-of-age classic “Risky Business.”

Cover of Risky Business

In the movie Tom Cruise plays Joel Goodsen, a high-school kid who wants to get into Princeton and have fun while his parents are away from home. Part of the fun includes an unauthorized spin in his father’s Porsche 928. Of course things go terribly wrong and the car winds up in Lake Michigan.

Auction houseProfiles in History said the car will cross the block at its Hollywood sale in July. Luckily this is not the vehicle that went underwater on screen. The auction company said the car for sale, a 1979 model with a five-speed manual transmission, is one of four used in the film three for driving and close-up scenes and one so-called “dump car” that went into the lake.

The auction company said this car is the only one from the movie known to have survived. Its odometer reads 102,755 miles and it is in driving condition. It is expected to fetch $40,000 to $60,000.

The estimate is several times the typical cost of a garden-variety ’79 928 these days. For $10,000 or so you can find a well-kept example of what is still a fairly advanced car. The auction will test the value of the car’s film connection.

Anyone remember the tow truck operator’s famous movie quote when pulling this Porsche out of Lake Michigan? “Who’s the U-Boat commander?” Classic!

There’s a time for playing it safe and a time for risky business.

Do you remember the film?

Risky Business is the film in which 19-year-old Tom Cruise (Joel Goodson) dances around his living room in his underwear.

He does this to celebrate the fact that his parents have left him alone while they go on vacation. Somewhere along the line, hooker Rebecca De Mornay, fleeing her vicious pimp, hides out in the Cruise manse.

a clip from “Risky Business” Joel and Barry take Joel’s dad’s Porsche 928 for a joyride.

Joel (Tom Cruise) races with his dad’s Porsche while trying to escape Lana’s pimp. From the Warner Bros. film – “Risky Business”

AllePorsche.com recently reported that a 1979 Porsche 928 used during the filming of “Risky Business” was put up for sale by the Volo Auto Museum, located about an hour north of Chicago where the movie was set, in order to make room for a couple of new additions to its collection.The platinum metallic colored coupe was one of four 928s used during principal production of the film, according to museum director Brian Grams.

Apparently the Porsche 928 that appeared in the film “Risky Business” was just sold for $49,000 after a Beverly Hills car dealer >read about it on FoxNews.com.

Grams says that he purchased the car several years ago from Denver car collector Lewis Johnson, who was obsessed with owning one of the Porsches from the film since he first saw it at the age of 14 and finally got around to tracking one down in 2005.

Johnson claims that the film’s producer, Jon Avnet, told him that he taught Cruise how to drive a manual transmission in the 5-speed Porsche, which was used during the filming of several scenes. Cruise has since become a well-known automotive enthusiast.

Grimes told FoxNews.com that the Porsche was listed for sale on the museum’s website , likely to sell for around $55,000. According to NADA Guides, the average price of 1979 928 without the Hollywood credit is $7,800.

The well-worn sports car has over 100,000 miles on the odometer and is not exactly in pristine condition. ….after 102,000 miles and multiple paint jobs. Its fuel tank leaking and it’s obvious that its bodywork will need some attention.

“I didn’t have much money left to spend, so I brought the car to a local Maaco paint place and had a single-stage paint job done on it,” says Johnsen. “It kind of worked out, though, because it only had a single-stage paint job on it when it was in the movie. So, in a way, this cheap paint job is more true to how it really was in the film than if I had an expensive two-stage base/clear paint job done — which wasn’t an option anyway!”

Cruise would probably look back on it as a great movie. He netted a Golden Globe nomination in 1984 for his performance as Joel Goodsen — considered by many as the role that launched his career — and Risky Business went on to become one of the biggest cult classic films of the 1980s.

It also exposed the Porsche brand to a whole new generation of future buyers. Many first-time Porsche owners today were teenagers sitting, with mouths agape, in a dark theater 20+ years ago.

Paul Brickman, the movie director said he chose Porsche’s 928 as the film’s luminary in lieu of other high-end GTs initially considered because he felt a Ferrari or Lamborghini would be far too exotic for the main character’s father to drive as a daily car.

Brickman initially considered Porsche’s iconic 911, but ultimately dubbed it “too mundane.” He saw the 928, on the other hand, as exactly the type of car a successful Windy City businessman would drive to work every day. The 928 was one of the most contemporary cars available at the time Brickman wrote the script. It was fresh, different, and exotic — yet in a subtle way.

Ultimately being totaled after being dumped into Lake Michigan for the sinking Porsche scene. after some research, found there were four different 928s used for filming, as well as two more cars used in the film’s post-production phase.

What’s more, none of the four 928s used for the production of Risky Busi-ness exactly match the car as it is actually portrayed on film. The cars present a mix of years, wheels, transmissions, and original colors — all similar yet slightly different from one another.

RB 928, as portrayed in the film, is a 1981 Platinmetallic 928 with a five-speed manual transmission, offset “Phone-Dial” cast alloy wheels, a gold interior, and Illinois State license plate tag number N2Z 264.

And the primary 928 used for filming in real life was a Platinum Metallic 1981 928, but with an automatic transmission, flat-face 15-inch “Phone-Dial” wheels, a brown dash, gold seats, and a non-reflective prop Illinois license plate, number N2Z 264.

With over 100,000 miles on the odometer, the platinum metallic coupe may not be in as good shape as its action hero driver, but it clearly has the same kind of box office draw.